CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER

ENGINEERING DIVISION

Wastewater Capital Projects Management

Standard Construction Specification

7.4 PERMEATION GROUTING

7.4.1 Definitions
7.4.1.1 Geotechnical Data Report (GDR)
A document that presents an interpretation of the known subsurface data for the project. The
purpose of the GDR is to compile all geological, geotechnical, groundwater, and other data
obtained from the geotechnical investigations for use by the various participants in the
project. If available, this information will be included within the contract documents as
specifically applicable to the project.

7.4.1.2 Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR)

The intent of a GBR is to clearly and contractually define the geotechnical conditions
through which tunneling will occur in order to evaluate a differing site condition (if
encountered) and it is used as a basis of bid for the contractor. By assessing the anticipated
geotechnical conditions for a project and providing baselines in the contract, the contractor
has a basis from which to prepare their bid and select their means and methods. The baseline
conditions do not necessarily reflect the actual conditions; they are not geotechnical fact to be
encountered. Rather, they represent the owner’s assumption of existing geotechnical
conditions for the project. If available, this information will be included within the contract
documents as specifically applicable to the project. Regardless of inclusion, this information
shall be investigated, interpreted, verified and/or developed by the contractor prior to
commencement of the work.

7.4.1.3 Permeation Grouting

The direct pressure injection of a chemical fluid grout into the ground to fill the spaces
between soil particles, without causing excessive movement or fracturing of the soil
formation. Permeation grouting is performed prior to commencement of tunneling
operations to provide a more consistent and stable soil matrix.

7.4.1.4 Chemical Grout

A chemical fluid grout that sets and alters the physical properties of a geologic mass,
typically composed of (1) matrix forming base materials, (2) reactants and, (3) accelerators
or retarders.

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7.4.2 Section Includes
This item includes pre-excavation ground stabilization as required within the Contract
Documents by permeation grouting. Permeation grouting shall be performed in accordance
with these specifications. If applicable, the general extents of permeation grouting for a
specific project may be shown in the plans.

7.4.3 Requirements
The purpose of the grouting program is to stabilize non-cementitious granular soil and fill as
shown on Construction Drawings. The permeation grouting program is to be completed prior
to beginning tunnel construction.
The effectiveness of the grouting program shall be verified in accordance with requirements
specified herein.
Restricted work hours and permits are as specified in the Contract Documents. The
Contractor shall coordinate all work with affected utility companies, and stakeholders and
comply with the requirements outlined within any access and/or construction permit obtained
by the City.

7.4.4 Quality Control

Before the Contractor begins tunnel construction, demonstrate to the City’s Construction
Project Manager, using either drilling and sampling methods, geophysical methods, data
records during grouting operations, or other acceptable means as stated in the approved
quality control program, that the grouting zones have been thoroughly impregnated and
stabilized with chemical grout. If grouting zones are found to be inadequately treated, the
Contractor shall perform additional chemical grouting as needed and at no additional expense
to the City.
The Contractor shall obtain samples of grout used for chemical grouting for gel time checks:
at least one for every half-hour of pumping or for every 250 gallons of grout, whichever is
more frequent. The gel samples shall be labeled and stored in accordance with manufacturer
recommendations until completion of the project.

7.4.5 Submittals

7.4.5.1 Preconstruction
Submit the following shop drawings and plans a minimum of 8 weeks prior to mobilization
of grouting equipment for review by the City’s Construction Project Manager, utility owners
and stakeholders:
1. Certificates of compliance for materials specified herein. Certificate of origin for
reactant materials.

2. Proposed grout mix, gel time, and certified laboratory testing results documenting the
required strength of soil samples injected with the proposed chemical grout mix, at
least 45 days prior to beginning grouting operations.

3. Detailed chemical grouting work plans and shop drawings, describing the grouting
approach, the chemical grout to be used, grout hole locations and orientations, grout
pipe installation procedures, locations and arrangement of injection points, grouting

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 equipment, injection procedures and sequences, proposed injection pressures,
recording equipment, data reporting methods, work sequences, schedules, method of
monitoring and protecting existing utilities; testing methods to be used to verify the
effectiveness of grouting with respect to strength and acceptance criteria; quality
assurance program and methods for determining that grouted zones are effectively
stabilized; and any other information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the
specified purpose of this grouting work. Also show grout target volumes at each
proposed grout injection point including assumptions with respect to porosity and
target volumes. Indicate cure time required for chemically grouted soil to obtain
required strength prior to tunneling.

7.4.5.2 During Construction

Submit records of grouting operations to the City’s Construction Project Manager on a daily
basis. Include grout mix, gel time, injection date and time, injection pressure and rate,
injection volumes and exact injection locations. Provide data in an acceptable chart-type
format that facilitates rapid visual evaluation of the results of the work, and update daily.
Submit results of surface monitoring point and settlement monitoring point array monitoring
on a daily basis.
Submit test results by the end of the day in which they were taken, and with frequency as
specified herein.
Within one week of completion of the grouting program, submit an as-built sketch showing
locations, depths and orientations of drilled holes and any grout pipes left in place.

7.4.6 Materials

7.4.6.1 Chemical Grout

Chemical grout shall consist of a liquid sodium silicate base, reactant, water, accelerator, and
other admixtures as required. The Contractor shall design the chemical grout mix so that
when injected into standard medium dense sand (Ottawa 20-30) specimens, the unconfined
compressive strength of the grouted test sample is no more than 200 psi and no less than 100
psi. The Contractor shall design the trial mix and conduct laboratory tests to verify trial mix
meets strength requirements in accordance with ASTM D4219 and D4320.

7.4.6.2 Base Material

The base material for the grout shall be liquid sodium silicate with a specific gravity of 1.4 to
1.5 and a silicate-to-soda ratio of 3.20 to 3.35. The minimum sodium silicate concentration
shall be 50 percent of the mix by volume. Sodium silicate shall be delivered in sealed
containers, or a certified tank truck, accompanied by the supplier’s certificate of origin.

7.4.6.3 Reactant
The reactant shall be an organic base type which, when properly mixed with other grout
components, provides a permanent, irreversible gel with controllable gel times. The resulting
gels shall exhibit less than 15 percent syneresis in 30 days when mixed with appropriate
amounts of sodium silicate, water and accelerator, and shall not exhibit objectionable odors
such as ammonia. Sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminate and other reactants that produce a

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temporary grout are not allowed. Reactant shall be delivered in sealed containers,
accompanied by the supplier’s certificate of origin.

7.4.6.4 Water
Water shall be potable and free of impurities that will deleteriously affect the grout gelling
characteristics and strength development of the grouted soil.

7.4.6.5 Accelerator
An accelerator may be utilized if required. It shall be technical grade, water soluble calcium
chloride or other approved salt, containing a minimum amount of insolubles.

7.4.6.6 Drilling Equipment

Drilling equipment shall be of the type and capacity suitable for drilling the required hole
diameters to the tolerances identified or established by the Contractor through evaluating the
potential ground conditions from the Geotechnical Data Report and/or Geotechnical Baseline
Report, as applicable. Drilling equipment shall also be able to drill at the approved
inclinations and depths for installing grout pipes.

7.4.6.7 Grouting Equipment

Chemical grouting equipment shall have the capacity and mechanical capability to do the
work as described herein. The equipment shall be maintained in good operating condition at
all times. If grout holes are lost or damaged due to mechanical failure of the equipment,
inadequacy of grout supply, or improper injection procedure, the Contractor shall backfill
these holes and replace them at no additional cost to the City.
The chemical grout plant shall be a continuous mixing type capable of supplying,
proportioning, mixing and pumping the grout with a gel time as specified. Batch-type
systems are not permitted. The main pumps shall be equipped with recording, positive
displacement meters that will accurately measure the volumes of the various components
pumped. Meters shall also be provided at the injection point and at each material line ahead
of mixing. The meters shall act independently of the viscosity of the metered fluid. The
accuracy of the meters shall be checked at least twice daily.
The pumping unit shall be equipped with piping and/or hoses of adequate capacity to carry
the base grout and reactant solutions separately to the point of mixing. The hoses shall be
joined using a ‘Y’ fitting containing check valves to prevent backflow, followed by a baffling
chamber. A sampling valve shall be placed beyond the point of mixing and the baffling
chamber. The pumping unit shall allow distribution of proportioned grout, under pressure, to
the grouting locations monitored by separate, automatic real-time display, flow rate
indicators and gauges.
Chemicals shall be stored in metal tanks, suitably protected from accidental discharge. The
Contractor shall maintain storage tank capacity sufficient to supply at least one day’s worth
of grouting materials so as to not interrupt the work if chemical delivery delays occur.
The Contractor shall provide the required chemical quality control testing apparatus on site
including, but not limited to: hydrometers, balance scales, graduates, viscometers and other
devices required to conduct chemical material acceptance tests, chemical proportioning tests,
and grout quality tests for proper quality control of the work.

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7.4.7 Grout Pipes
Grout pipes shall be installed horizontally, inclined, or vertically to obtain the specified
minimum grout coverage. Grout pipes shall be re-groutable sleeve-port type grout pipes,
with grout ports at maximum 15-inch centers covered by expandable rubber sleeves. After
being placed in a borehole, the sleeve-port grout pipes shall be encased in a continuous brittle
mortar sheath. An internal double packer shall be used to inject grout at a specific sleeve-
port.

7.4.8 Preparation
Permeation grouting operations shall not begin until geotechnical instrumentation has been
installed as required in Section 7.1 of these Standard Construction Specifications.
Coordinate with all affected utility companies as applicable. Coordinate the sequence of
operations taking into consideration: a) means of access to the area; b) permitted areas of
operations; c) time restrictions for the performance of the Work; and d) maintenance and
adherence to utility traffic requirements.

7.4.9 Installation of Grout Pipes

The Contractor shall locate, protect, support and maintain, without interruption, all utility
facilities, equipment and services. Before beginning grout pipe installation from the surface,
the proposed grout hole locations shall be marked by the Contractor and cleared by the “on-
call” utility notification system. If existing utilities are within 5 feet of proposed grout pipes,
the Contractor shall pothole the utilities before installing grout pipes.
Close coordination with the affected utility companies and/or property owners will be
necessary when installing grout pipes, in terms of both grout pipe location and the timing of
installation.
The minimum extents of the soil zones to be grouted are shown on the Construction
Drawings. The intent of the grouting program is to treat granular soil and fill. During
drilling, the Contractor should be able to distinguish these granular soils from cohesive soil
and fill by drilling action and return of cuttings. Grout pipes shall be installed to the
elevations shown on the Construction Drawings or until drilling action indicates that the
grout pipes have fully penetrated through the depth of granular soil and fill, whichever is
greater.

7.4.10 Grouting Procedures

Using double packers or other approved suitable measures, inject chemical grout into the
selected zones through ports in the sleeve pipes. The Contractor shall use soils information
gained while drilling grout pipes to manage the grout plan accordingly. The grouting
pressure for any one pipe shall not be more than 2 psi per foot of overburden. Adjust
injection procedures as required to prevent surface heave. Temporary high injection
pressures are permitted to crack open sleeve-ports, but these pressures are not allowed for
longer than one minute.
The Contractor shall conduct a surface pressure test of sleeve port grout tube from manifold
to injection point (equivalent to maximum depth) to ascertain system pressure loss. This
measured pressure is used for estimating appropriate grouting pressures for production
grouting. Inject grout at rates not greater than 10 gpm.

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The Contractor shall survey surface monitoring points and arrays each day after grouting
operations are completed. Ground heaving and settlement shall not exceed monitoring
criteria as specified in Section 7.1 of these Standard Construction Specifications.

7.4.11 Leakage Monitoring

The Contractor shall closely monitor the rate of grout take during grout injection, and
ascertain the cause of sudden drops in grout injection pressures following initial start-up
pressure adjustments. Regularly monitor the ground surface adjacent to the grouting site for
leakage. In the event that serious grout leaks are observed, the Contractor shall temporarily
terminate injection and plug leaks before resuming pumping. The City’s Construction
Project Manager shall be informed immediately of such leakage.
If excessive grout take is experienced that is not attributable to leakage, the Contractor shall
adjust injection pressure, pumping rates, gel or setting times, or grout composition, subject to
the acceptance of the City’s Construction Project Manager, to reduce grout use to acceptable
levels.

7.4.12 Clean Up and Site Restoration

Remove all equipment, unused materials, and debris from the site at the end of the job.
Spilled materials and ground shall be cleaned-up. After tunneling is completed, grout pipes
shall be filled with lean cement and cut off within one foot of the ground surface.
Restoration shall follow construction as the work progresses and shall be completed as soon
as possible. Restore and repair any damage resulting from heave or spills caused by the work.
Any property or improvements damaged or destroyed, shall be restored to a condition equal
to or better than existing prior to construction at no additional cost to the City. Restoration
shall be completed immediately if a third party or the City is inconvenienced by the damage,
and in no case later than thirty (30) days after the damage is discovered. This provision for
restoration shall include all property which was affected by the construction operations.

END OF SPECIFICATION

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